More than 100 Roman Catholic cardinals will gather in the Sistine Chapel in March. One will emerge as pope. Who will it be? The "Sweet Sistine" is our guess at the top candidates from each continent.

KochAPGeography's insight:

With more than 1billion followers, the geographic diversity of today's Catholic church is vast. With the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, questions abound as to the identity of the next pope. The Religion News Service takes this question to the next level. Considering the popularity of betting services around the world, the bracket concept isn't that unlikely.

In China, mimicry is a form of mastery. China copies movies, cell phones, even architecture. In fact, it's home to several imitation European villages, including a fake English village called Thames Town.

"Many of us have heard the stories of how our parents or grandparents had to walk miles in the snow to get to school. Perhaps some of these tales were a tad embellished, but we got the point. A lot of American kids have the luxury of being driven in a warm car or bus to a good school nearby. This is not the case for the children in this gallery.

The photos you are about to see are snapshots of the treacherous trips kids around the world take each day to get an education. Considering there are currently 61 million children worldwide who are not receiving an education—the majority of which are girls—these walks are seen as being well worth the risk.

In the above photo, students in Indonesia hold tight while crossing a collapsed bridge to get to school in Banten village on January 19, 2012.Flooding from the Ciberang river broke a pillar supporting the suspension bridge, which was built in 2001."

It is sad what so many children must endure and go through in order to get an education. I wonder if these bridges and structures have been fixed. 61 million children not receiving an education is 61 million too many.

This is really hard to see. Children shouldn't have a hard journey getting to school to get an education and better their lives. These photos are from ten places around the world with the most dangerous journeys to school. This isn't a topic that even comes to mind because many of us living in the United States have had the luxury of being driven to school or riding a bus and we take that simple drive for granted. One of the photos is from Indonesia where students have to cross a collapsing bridge to get to school. The image shows them hanging on for dear life while trying not to fall in the water underneath them. There was a flood that broke the pillar holding this bridge up and it was never fixed after that. What happens when that bridge fully collapses? There needs to be a better way to get these kids to school. These children shouldn't have to suffer with getting their education for situations that are out of their control.

Some of the poorest people in the world are becoming significantly less poor, according to a groundbreaking academic study which has taken a new approach to measuring deprivation. The report, by Oxford University's poverty and human development initiative, predicts that countries among the most impoverished in the world could see acute poverty eradicated within 20 years if they continue at present rates.

More than 100 Roman Catholic cardinals will gather in the Sistine Chapel in March. One will emerge as pope. Who will it be? The "Sweet Sistine" is our guess at the top candidates from each continent.

KochAPGeography's insight:

With more than 1billion followers, the geographic diversity of today's Catholic church is vast. With the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, questions abound as to the identity of the next pope. The Religion News Service takes this question to the next level. Considering the popularity of betting services around the world, the bracket concept isn't that unlikely.

MADRID (Reuters) - Local lawmakers in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia voted to seek a referendum on breaking away from Spain on Thursday, setting themselves up for a battle with an implacably...

President Barack Obama may not have directly threatened to cut aid to Egypt on Thursday, but he made clear that the status quo is no longer acceptable.

KochAPGeography's insight:

Things are rarely as simple as they seem. If the U.S. we're to cut ties with Egypt, the political and economic consequences would be felt well beyond the borders of those two countries. "Follow the money."

With 23 official languages-- rising to 24 in July-- the European Union is knee-deep in translation. Must every document be translated into Latvian and Irish? Or should the EU simplify matters by making English its working language?

China’s leaders face great challenges and great expectations. Economic growth is slowing, the population is aging, and the environment is in a state of crisis. This is a tantalizing, albeit incomplete, view of China in flux, promoting consideration of how the cultural landscape has and will change as China's demographic, economic, and environmental realities clash with the political status quo and uncertain changes ahead.

Just 10 years ago, Professor Hasan Tanriverdi could have been arrested by security forces, blindfolded and taken to an underground prison and tortured, just for doing this. Speaking Kurdish was banned under Turkish law.

In conservative parts of India, women were expected to be shy, and reserved -- seen, and not heard. But that's changing, as more girls become educated and aspire to independence. And 12-year-old Sarita Meena is the embodiment of that change.

Brazilian security forces seized control of two crime-ridden slums near Rio de Janeiro's international airport and seaport Sunday in a new bid to drive out drug traffickers."

KochAPGeography's insight:

Drugs and violence seem intimately connected to rapid urbanization in developing countries. Is police presence a truly sustainable solution to the challenges facing Brazil and others in the developing world?

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